Tom
by curlingduck
Summary: What was thought to be an easy case for the Hardy Boys, turns into an event that will change everything the Hardy Boys thought they knew. How far would someone go for revenge?
1. Chapter 1

_Hello All!_

 _This is my first story so please don't hate._

 _It takes place when Joe is in grade 11, Frank in grade 12. All the usual characters plus a couple of OCs. It will go back in forth from Franks and Joes point of view._

 _Enjoy~_

I was going to die in this basement, and no one would know. Frank would never find out. I don't know how he didn't realize that his brother wasn't really his brother, I guess the guy was such a good actor. Tears started streaming down my face as I began to panic. I needed to get out of here, before it was too late.

3 DAYS EARLIER

Joe and I had decided to investigate the school break in that happened at Bayport High two days ago. Seeing as it was our school, it was important to us. It was a long weekend, so we had three days off of school, plenty of time to investigate. I was up early, ready to go but of course, Joe was still in bed.

"Joe! Wake up!" I went in his room and threw a pillow at him, "Come on!"

"I'mmm up, I'm upppppp" Joe mumbled from his bed, eyes still closed.

"Joe, we are starting our investigation today."

"Oh yes!" He hopped out of his bed, "Give me ten minutes. I need to shower"

"Okay, ten minutes. I'll be downstairs"

"Wanna make me breakfast" Joe smiled a goofy grin, "Don't want us to be late, hey Frank"

"Fine, i'll make some eggs"

"Thanks bro!" Joe went to the bathroom and I heard the water started to run. I headed downstairs to start the eggs.

Seven minutes later, Joe ran down the stairs.

"Wow, Joe. You still have three more minutes" I laughed at him.

"I'm excited to get started" He said as he grabbed a plate of eggs and two slices of toast.

"So I'm gonna head to the hospital, to talk to the janitor from school"

"Oh right, he was working the night of the break in. I heard he was pretty hurt with a concussion and several broken bones"

"Yea, the doctor I called this morning, said he finally woke up last night and is doing better"

"That's great! And I'm going to school right?" Joe asked, finishing up his breakfast.

"Yea, Mr. Peters gave me the key, so I'd look around the school, see where the break in occurred and if anything is missing" I got the key out of my pocket, and handed it to Joe.  
"Thanks! Didn't the cops already look around?"  
"Yes, of course, but I'd just double check. Also, don't lose the key. Mr. Peters will kill us "

"I won't lose it. We meeting up with the girls tonight?"

"Double date at seven, so just be back by then" We were going to this fancy Italian restaurant that just opened in Bayport.

"Sounds like a plan, I'm just going to clean up the kitchen and I'll be off"

"Okay, see you later Joe" I got up and put my plate away then headed outside. I decided to walk to the hospital seeing as it was only a short little walk and a beautiful day out. When I arrived at the hospital, I went to the help desk where Tony's girlfriend was working.

"Hey Claire!" I smiled to her, "How are you doing today?"

"I'm good Frank, what about yourself?"

"Not too bad, I'm here to see , the janitor from school. Do you know what floor he's on?"

"I'll look it up for you, just hold on." She typed the name into the system and frowned, "I'm sorry Frank, it looks like he's dead"...

It didn't take me very long to wash the dishes, so in twenty minutes, I was headed to Bayport High. It was a beautiful day, with a high of 20something. It was a short walk to school. Seeing the parking lot so empty was so strange. I used the principle keys to get into the school. It was deserted, not a soul in sight. I began to walk around the school, my destination being the room where the janitor got hurt. All of a sudden, I heard a voice coming from a classroom to my left.

"Hello?" I called out, I didn't hear anything back. I started walking towards the noise.

"Jooeee" Someone was calling my name, which was very creepy. I didn't like it.

"Hello!" I yelled back, started to get anxious. Maybe I should get out of here.

"Hello Joe" The voice was getting stronger. I pulled out my phone from my pocket, ready to call Frank. I had a bad feeling about where I was.

"Put the phone away" I could hear the voice behind me. I unlocked my phone, trying to Frank's number when I felt something touch my back, "Turn around". The voice demanded. I turned around slowly, taking a deep breath. There was a gun pointing at my head. My eyes moved down to see who was holding the gun and it looked like I was looking into a mirror. I was seeing myself.

"Who are you?" I asked slowly, my mind running crazy.

"Give me the phone. Now!" This imposter was holding out his hand. I passed him my phone, seeing as I had no other option, "There you go, be a good boy Joe" He smiled a mischievous grin, raising the arm holding the gun. The last thing I remember was a blinding pain on my head. I fell to the ground as I saw stars, darkness coming quickly. The person who looked like me gave me a devilish smile and everything went dark…

~Oh, suspense! What's going on? Wait to see.


	2. Chapter 2

_Thanks everyone for the reviews! Here is chapter 2_

"What?! What do you mean he's dead?" I asked, "I called this morning and was told he was doing fine."

"That's really weird Frank because it says passed away last night" Claire looked at me, "I'm sorry Frank, why did you want to go talk to him?"

"Well, me and Joe were looking into the break in that happened at school and was working that night. So I wanted to talk to him about it".

"That's too bad, where's Joe?"

"He went to school, to see what happened there. gave us a key to get in"

"Hopefully, he finds out more than you"

"Yea, hope so. Well, I guess I better go. See you Claire" I waved and walked out of the hospital. Why would the doctor tell me he was alive if he wasn't? It was strange. I pulled out my phone to call Joe, maybe he was having better luck. I went to his contact and put it to call. It rang a few times then went to voicemail. I called Joe again and the same thing happened. My stomach started to feel funny, something didn't seem right. Why wasn't my brother picking up?

"Wake up"

"Wake up" Someone was hitting my face.

"Frank, stop hitting me" I mumbled, trying to get it to stop.

"I'm not Frank" I breathed in slowly and it all came back to me. I opened my eyes to see my looklike staring at me. When I looked around, there was a bunch of stuff laying all over the ground. There was a tiny window to my left. Maybe I was in a basement, "Glad you woke up".

"Who are you? What do you want? Why do you look like me?" I asked all the questions that came to mind.

"I will answer your questions in due time. First, you have to unlock your phone for me" My looklike held up my phone,"Oh, maybe I should untie your arms". I looked down and realized I was tied to a chair, very tightly. My arms were tied behind my back and each leg tied securely to a chair leg.

"What do you want with my phone?" I asked.

"Your big bro keeps calling. I think we should stop worrying him" He smiled his grin again, "I'll untie you and hand you your phone, but no funny business or my friend here will have to intervene". For the first time, I noticed a giant of a man standing away from us, keeping guard. He had to be at least six feet tall. He had huge muscles and a bald head. I gulped slowly.

"Fine, I'll unlock my phone" I said to my captor.

"Great! Great!" He walked behind me and untied my arms. I began stretching them, "Here's your phone and remember! No funny business!"

"I got it" I replied grabbing my phone, putting my code in the lock screen, instantly unlocking it.

"Go to your settings and turn the passcode off" He demanded. I nodded and did what I was told. When I was done, I handed him back my phone, "Perfect. Well done" He grabbed the rope and began tying me up again.

"Hey, I did as I was told! Your not gonna let me go?"

"Did you really think I was going to let you go after all the hard work i did to get you. I broke into your school and injured the janitor because I knew the Hardy Boys would just have to find out what happened. I was hoping you'd split up and look for clues, and I was right. You walked right into my trap!"

"What? You set me up?" Fear started growing inside me as this man described his story. He was crazy.

"Oh yes, but it worked out more beautifully than I had planned. I have you much earlier than I scheduled." He began to laugh and pulled out some duct tape, "Can't have you yelling when we call your brother, now can we?" He ripped off a piece of the tape and put it on my mouth. The man pulled out my phone and called Frank, putting it on speaker.

"Joe! Where have you been? Why haven't you answered any of my calls?" Frank's voice called from the speaker on my phone.

"Sorry Frank, I lost service in school while I was looking around. I just got service now" My lookalike answered, sounding exactly like me. He gave me a wink and all I could do was glare at him.

"You had me worried. Come on home, we have our date in an hour with the girls"

"I'm just leaving Bayport High now, I'll be home soon"

"Okay, see you then" Frank ended the call. My lookalike put my phone back in his pocket and smiled at me.

"Well, that was easy. It's lucky we sound so alike"

"Mhhhhhmhhh" was all I could get out from the tape.

"Oh, wait. I need your clothes" I just glared at this man, "That would be weird" He started to untie me again, now my arms and legs, "Stand up and take off the clothes". I pulled off the duct tape and stood up.

"And what if I don't?" I asked, quietly.

"Do you really want to know the answer?" He quizzed me, picking up his gun and playing with it, "Take them off, now" He pointed the gun towards me. I wasn't going to get shot, so I quickly took my shirt and pants off, leaving me standing in the basement in just my underwear.

"Ah, so you do know how to listen. We are going to have so much fun together, Joe. I'm so excited!" The man started to take off the clothes he was wearing and replacing them with mine, "How do I look?" He asked when he had all my clothes on, "Maurice. Come tie up our friend. I have a date to get too!" The giant man walked towards me with rope.

"Hands behind your back" He yelled at me. I did as I was told.

"Have a good night with Maurice, Joe. I'll be back tomorrow morning, bright and early. Our fun will begin then!" He laughed to himself, walking up the steps and disappearing. Leaving me in the basement with Maurice...

Please R&R


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks to everyone who reviewed or read the last chapters! This chapter is pretty important!

 **FRANK**

 **It was a quarter to seven when Joe walked in the house.**

 **"** **Joe! You have fifteen minutes until the girls get here."**

 **"** **Sorry Frank, I didn't realise the time. I'm gonna have a minute shower and I'll be right back"**

 **"** **Okay"**

 **"** **I'll be super quick" Joe yelled from the stairs. I just sighed, he could never be early for anything.**

 **Fourteen and a half minutes later, Joe ran down the stairs.**

 **"** **Ha. A few seconds to spare!"**

 **"** **Come on, we better get outside" I said, putting on my fancy brown shoes.**

 **"** **Yea, don't want them waiting for us" Joe said back, taking my black shoes and putting them on.**

 **"** **You know you're wearing my shoes right?" I asked Joe with a laugh.**

 **"** **Oops, I thought these were mine. Sorry bro" Joe took the shoes off and put on beise shoes instead.**

 **"** **You were there with Callie when she bought them for me for Christmas. She said you picked them out"**

 **"** **I just had a blonde moment" Joe ran his hand through his hair and laughed.**

 **"** **Hey, the girls are here!" Callie was driving her new blue Honda and Vanessa was in the back, "I guess I get shotgun!" I opened the door and kissed Callie, "Hello beautiful".**

 **"** **Hey Handsome" She smiled at me, "Hey Joe!".**

 **"** **Hi Callie" Joe answered, after giving a kiss to Vanessa, "Where are we going for supper?"**

 **"** **What do you mean? You were the one that booked our reservations last week" Vanessa spoke up.**

 **"** **Oh right, I forgot!" Joe laughed weakly.**

 **"** **Joe, you've been bugging us for weeks about going to this place." I said to my brother, what was going on with him tonight?**

 **"** **I know, I know"**

 **"** **Alright, we all ready to go?" Callie asked, then pulled out off my driveway and we were off.**

 **"** **You feeling alright tonight, Joe?" I asked him.**

 **"** **Yea, Frank, I'm doing good!" He answered very enthusiastically.**

 **"** **I forgot to ask, did you find anything at school?"**

 **"** **What?"**

 **"** **You went to school, to look and see where the janitor was injured"**

 **"** **Oh, oh right. No, nothing stood out really, sorry Frank."**

 **"** **Yea, nothing at the hospital either. The Janitor died last night"**

 **"** **I guess we are back to square one then, hey Frank"**

 **"** **Yea, I guess you're right" I replied and looked at Callie. We were both thinking the same thing, something was going on with Joe…**

 **I heard the whistling before I saw him. My lookalike was in a very good mood.**

 **"** **Morning Joe, how are we today?" He was wearing more of my clothes, some of which I haven't worn in months.**

 **"** **Great, just great" I answered sarcastically. My night wasn't great. Maurice had punched me a few times in the stomach and my ribs were aching.**

 **"** **My night was wonderful, just wonderful. Your girlfriend is hot! We had a couple of nice kisses. That Italian place was okay, I'm not a big Italian lover"**

 **"** **You kissed my girlfriend! Please, please don't do this" I begged this stranger.**

 **"** **Oh, but I'm having so much fun!" He took off the backpack he was wearing and took out a container, "Here. I brought you leftovers. Thought you might be hungry"**

 **"** **Wow, thanks" I replied, surprised.**

 **"** **I'm going to untie you know, but remember…"**

 **"** **Yes, no funny business. I got it" I interrupted.**

 **"** **Right, I see Maurice has taught you a few things" He laughed and untied me from the chair, then handed me the leftover container with a plastic fork.**

 **"** **Will you tell me what you want?" I asked in between bites, I was starving.**

 **"** **I guess I should. You are my twin"**

 **"** **What?" My fork fell to the floor, "I don't have a twin"**

 **"** **Yes, yes you do, you wouldn't know me of course, we were separated at birth"**

 **"** **My mom would have told me this!"**

 **"** **Stop interrupting me! I'm trying to tell my story!" He glared at me, then continued on, "As I saying, our mother had twins and put them both up for adoption. Laura and Fenton Hardy adopted you and raised you as their own. I'm not sure if they even knew there was another one of us. As for me, I got sick as a baby and no one wants to adopt a sick child. I went through the foster system, never finding a place to call home. Then three months ago, I met Maurice. He is an escape convict, and guess who put him in jail? Your father, Fenton Hardy! Maurice brought me into his home and we did research to find out about my birth parents. Our father died before we were born, in Afghanistan. As for our mother, she has a family in Maine, or should I say had. When I found out she was married with two kids, I was so angry! How dare she have a family when I didn't! I found out where she lived. In the middle of the night, I made her watch as I killed her two little girls, then her husband and finally I killed her. Then my next target was you. I have been watching you for a couple months. What a life you have! On the football team, with a wonderful girlfriends and friends and a family! You have Frank! I wanted what you have. So, I thought to myself, we look so alike, I could really be you! I began to learn everything about you, what you like, what you don't like then planted my egg. Breaking in to your school so you and your brother would investigate. The janitor saw me and thought it was you. So I had to kill him. He put up a good fight, but he didn't die! I had to sneak into the hospital to finish the job. Maurice here pretended to be the doctor and talked to your brother, letting me have the perfect opportunity to get what I really wanted, which is you. Why is it that you got everything when I got nothing! It's not fair! So, I'm going to be you and Maurice here will get you. See, now everyone gets what they deserve!" My twin ended his rant and looked at me. I was filled with fear, he was crazy, absolutely crazy! He killed people, a couple of people!**

 **"** **I`m sorry your life hasn't turned out the best, but that`s not my fault! I`ve never known I had a twin, I didn't know I was adopted. Don't take your anger out on me" I pleaded with my crazy twin, but he just laughed.**

 **"** **It`s my turn to have your life! Your fantastic life! And your turn to feel what I felt. Maurice is going to have so much fun with you. He can`t wait."**

 **"** **Please, don't do this. It`s not too late"  
** **"** **Haha! Yes, it is.. I've already killed almost half a dozen people. I think I can live with keeping you here"**

 **"** **No, no, come on. I`m your brother, your twin!"**

 **"** **I am your twin, and yet you haven't even asked me my name! You don`t care about me!"**

 **"** **I`m...I'm sorry, what`s your name?" I asked, trying to make amends.**

 **"** **Like that makes any difference, but my name is Tom"...**


	4. Chapter 4

_**Hope everyone is enjoying the story! Short chapter, will update in a few days...**_

I picked up Callie at ten in the morning. We were going for a hike a town over from Bayport.

"Did you talk to Joe when you guys got dropped off last night? Something was really weird with him. Vanessa asked the minute you guys left"

"No, he went straight up to bed. And this morning, he was gone before I got up! Joe loves his sleep"

"That's really weird, we all know Joe sleeps as long as he can"

"I wonder if something happened at school yesterday, maybe I should go look around there"

"Want me to come with you?" Callie asked.

"Yea, we could do that tomorrow"

"We could set a dinner date with the gang tonight, just to see if we aren't going crazy"

"That's a good idea, see if anyone else notices something"

"It wouldn't hurt"

"I hope we're just going crazy but there were a lot of things off with my brother last night. The shoes thing, he didn't know where we were going and at the restaurant, he ordered something he had never eaten before after he had talked about the shrimp pasta all week"

"I don't know Frank, those might be coincidences, maybe Joe was feeling tired"

"I just feel like something is wrong"...

I heard my phone buzz, then looked at Tom. He was smiling.

"Oh, I'm invited to supper tonight with all your friends! Some pizza place. Yay! I get to meet more of your friends!"

"Please, don't leave me here. Let me go" I whispered.

"Stop pleading, nothing you say is going to change my mind! Have a good time with Maurice. Oh, did I mention his last nice is O'Connor" I coughed as realized who this Maurice was. Oh dear god, my dad arrested this guy ten years ago. He was sentenced for life, as he murdered several people. I was really dead.

"I see you have clued in to who I am" Maurice walked closer to me and kneed down besides me, "We are going to have fun together".

"Okay, well I'm off! I'll try to get back tonight, if not tomorrow morning. Don't kill him yet" My twin smiled and walked up the stairs and out the door.

"Now, it's just you and I, boy" Maurice started to untie my legs, "Get up" he demanded me. I tried to get up, but my legs felt like jelly. I leaned on the chair.

"Just let me go, please. I won't tell anyone" I pleaded with this maniac.

"Hahaha" He just laughed, "Give me your arms" He picked up handcuffs and handcuffed my hands together. Maurice grabbed some rope and put it through the cuffs, then hung the rope over the rafters on the ceiling. My arms moved up over my head, as my feet came off the floor.

"Ah" I gasped at the sudden pain in my arms and shoulders. I could see Maurice tie the rope and I was left hanging off of the floor.

"Oh, I am going to enjoy this. Do you know that your father killed my younger brother and then put me into jail. I lost everything because of Fenton Hardy, and now I get to take something away from him. His youngest son. I am going to make you wish you were dead and then, maybe if I'm feeling generous, I'll kill you" I didn't know what to say. I was terrified, there was no way I was going to get out of this one. No one even knew that i was here. I was distracted with thoughts when the pain began. Maurice had started punching me. Punch after punch. I was in pain, a lot of pain.

"Stop, please stop it" I mumbled, trying to make the pain end. It didn't stop though, it just kept going…

 _End of chapter 4! Please R &R :)_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Here's chapter 5, it's a little short but worthwhile! I'm almost done writing this story and have some ideas in place for the sequel. It's looking like this story will be about 15 chapters long!**_

 _ **Tom Chapter 5**_

FRANK

The hike Callie and I went on was nice. It took us a few hours to do all of it. I spent most of our hike distracted worrying about Joe. We were the first ones to pizza later that day.

"Hey Biff! Hey Chet!" They had just sat down. They both greeted Callie and me.

"Where's everyone else? I thought you said to be here at 6?" Chet asked.

"I did.. maybe some people are running late" I explained, "Before Joe gets here, can you guys do me a favour? I think something is going on with Joe but I have no idea what. He's not acting himself these past two days. I don't know if it's just me, but Callie and Van have noticed something too" I just finished my speech when my brother and Vanessa walked into the pizza restaurant.

"Hey guys!" Joe greeted everyone while sitting down across from me, "how is everyone doing this evening?"

"Good" Biff replied, staring at my brother, "You feeling okay Joe?"

"Now why does everyone keep asking me that question? I'm happy and in a fantastic mood, why does something have to be wrong?" We all looked at each other. Maybe I was just overthinking things.

"No, you're right. I'm glad that you're happy Joe" I smiled at my brother, "who's ready to order?" Everyone was ready. We ordered two medium pepperoni pizzas and a small salad to share. Supper was a fun affair, everyone had a great time but there was still this tiny part of me still believing that Joe was acting differently. I was going to figure out what's up...

JOE

I didn't realize I had passed out until cold water sprayed on my face and woke me up.

"Ahhhh" I gasped at the freezing cold water.

"You don't take pain very well, Joe" Maurice was staring at me with a smirk on his face. I just whimpered, "Oh now look at this, are you scared?" Maurice was taunting me. Then and there, I promised myself not to give up, to not let them break me.

"Go to hell" I spat at him.

"That's a very mean thing to say" Maurice picked up a black baseball and started throwing it up and down. Out of nowhere, my left leg exploded with pain. I blinked slowly and looked down. He had broken my leg with a baseball bat. I was trying to keep in the screams of pain but couldn't hold them in.

"Wow! That was intense!" I didn't hear my evil twin come in, "Supper just ended, your friends are awesome! They really seem to care about everyone! They care about me"

"You're crazy" I mumbled to him, eyes closed. I was still shaking from the pain.

"Guess what I'm doing tomorrow? It's a brothers day! We're going bowling and to the movies! My idea of course. Joe, you don't know how lucky you are". I didn't answer him.

"School starts back up the day after tomorrow, doesn't it?" Maurice asked Tom.

"Yes, it does! I'm so excited! I get to learn and meet so many more people"

"Do I really need to clean? I know I'm posing as a janitor but I don't want to clean"

"Uhm, maybe a little. Keep your cover going" So Maurice was posing as the janitor, interesting.

"It's getting late. I should back to my house. Ha! My house! Have fun Joey" Tom walked up the stairs and disappeared.

"That guy is way too happy about everything" Maurice laughed, which sent shivers down my back…

 ** _Will post the next chapter in a few days :)_**


	6. Chapter 6

_**Surprise! Another chapter so soon! Thanks to the people who are reviewing, it's awesome to see that people are actually reading the story!**_

FRANK

I was up when Joe came in the house. I was laying in bed, and I looked at the clock. It read 1:25am. Where was he coming from at this time of night? I would have to ask him about it.

I looked at the clock again, it read 8:12am. I got out of bed, seeing I wasn't going to fall back asleep. When I went into Joe's room, he wasn't there. Joe was not an early riser, where was he? I went down to the kitchen and made oatmeal for breakfast. Just as the oatmeal was finishing up, Joe walked into the house, pretty sweaty.

"Did you go for a run this early?" I asked my brother.

"Yea, just a quick one around the block" He replied, "Did you make me some oatmeal?"

"Wow, Joe. Good for you and there's some here for you" I got him a bowl and we ate our oatmeal, "we're going bowling in a few hours. Anything you want to before then?"

"We could go to the mall!"

"Sure, it opens at nine so we have a little while"

"I'll go have a shower and then we can go!"

"Hey, why were you up at 1am this morning?" I asked.

"Oh, I couldn't sleep so I went for a little midnight walk. Sorry I woke you. I'm gonna go take a shower, I'll be ready back".

We had a good brothers day today. We ended up at the mall for close to two hours. Joe bought some shirts and a pair of shoes. Bowling was fun, for the first time ever, I beat Joe at it. That never happens. The movie we saw was a rerun of Jurassic World. It's one of my brothers all time favourite movies. He has probably seen it five times. But he acted like he had never seen it before which was weird. I tried to ask Joe what was going on with him though he never gave me an answer.

"Wow Frank! Thanks for the awesome day! What a good way to end the weekend!" Joe exclaimed as we stepped into the house.

"Yea Joe, it was a good day" I replied back.

"Oh! My boys are home!" I heard my mom's voice from the kitchen.

"Hey mom! How was your weekend away with dad?" I gave my mom a hug.

"We had an amazing weekend. Thanks again for the trip!"

"Hey mom! How are you?" Joe came and gave mom a huge hug.

"I'm good Joe" She laughed, giving me a funny look.

"Where's dad?" Joe asked

"Chief called on our way home. They needed to talk to him so I dropped him off at the police station on our way home".

"Do you know what it's about?" Frank piped up.

"No son. No idea"

"I'm pooped from our super fun day! Goodnight family" Joe exclaimed, hugging me and mom. He walked up the stairs.

"Frank, what's going on with Joe?" My mom asked as soon as Joe was upstairs.

"You notice it too? I really don't know, but he's really starting to freak me out…"

JOE

I was finally left alone. I didn't know where Maurice or Tom was but I really didn't care. I was trying to keep calm and not give up, but it was slowly getting to me. I was going to die in this basement, and no one would know. Frank would never find out. I don't know how he didn't realize that his brother wasn't really his brother, I guess the guy was such a good actor. Tears started streaming down my face as I began to panic. I needed to get out of here, before it was too late.

"Joe, calm down" I whispered to myself, "Don't give up, you can not give up". I had to believe that Frank would figure this out or someone would. Why didn't someone figure it out? That the Joe people kept hanging out wasn't actually Joe! My brother hasn't even noticed. I began to hyperventilate, which killed my ribs. God, was I ever a mess….


	7. Chapter 7

_**Thanks for the reviews! I will be updating the next chapter on Sunday! This chapter gets suspenseful!**_

FRANK

When I came down for breakfast the next morning before school, my mom was making a pot of coffee.

"Good morning Mom" I said as I sat down at the kitchen table.

"Morning Frank. Want some coffee?"

"Yes please! Have you seen Joe this morning? I looked in his room and he's not there"

"No, he was up and gone before me. Not at all Joe like behavior"

"Huh, that's really weird. What about dad? Did he get home at all?"

"He came in last night very late, I think he's still in bed actually. What are your plans after school?" My mom asked.

"Me and the gang are going to Biff's house" I left out the minor detail about this hangout being about Joe. Also, I haven't made plans with any of them yet.

"Mom, I'm off to school"

"Okay sweetie. Have a good day"

I got to school early and looked around for Joe. He was in the library, reading a chemistry book.

"Hey Joe, got a minute?" I asked him.

"Yea sure big brother, what's up?"

"Are you feeling okay lately? You've been acting so differently these past three days and it's starting to freak me out." Joe didn't answer at first.

"I'm fine Frank. Can't a guy catch a break around here? All you and your friends seem to do is ask me if I'm okay twenty times a day. Leave me alone!" Joe got up abruptly and stormed out of the library. I know Joe had a temper but I've never seen him get so ballistic that easily. Why did he say your friends? I wondered to myself. Facts started coming together in my head as I came to a simple conclusion; my brother wasn't really my brother...

JOE

I woke up to my evil twin staring right in my face.

"Good morning Joe" he said to me. I just grunted. "School starts today! I'm so excited!" School? I've been in this basement for three days then, though it feels a lot longer.

"Frank is the best! We had such a good day yesterday! And your parents are back! I met your mom but your dad wasn't home for some reason" a ray of hope went through me. If my parents were home then maybe they would notice and start investigating. That was being hopeful.

"Nice" I mumbled.

"It's lucky we're in your school, it's very convenient"

"We're at my school?" I whispered.

"Maybe" he laughed, "Maurice, come on. School starts soon. Oh wait, I almost forgot" Tom went to the rope holding me up and untied it. I fell down on the floor hard, getting the wind knocked out of me. My body curled up in an uncomfortable position. I let a big moan of pain.

"See you later Joey" the two of them walked up the stairs and away. I was left panting on the ice cold floor. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a phone lying on the floor a few feet away from me.

"If I can get over there, I can call for help!" I thought to myself, taking a deep breath, "just one small movement at a time." Seeing as my arms were still handcuffed together and my leg throbbed with every breath, this was no easy task. But I could not give up. I crawled my way over to the phone, trembling with pain. Just when I was about to pass out, my head touched the phone.

"Yes, yes, yes" I whispered, slowly sitting up, my ribs protesting. I grabbed the phone with my hands and swiped the unlock key. It opened up! Trying to not pass out, I went the call icon and dialled my brothers number, putting it on speaker. My eyes closed as I prayed he would answer…


	8. Chapter 8

_**Chapter 8 is here! Enjoy :)**_

 _ **Thanks to Cherylann Rivers who pointed out that I put the same chapter... oops**_

FRANK

I was in my first class of the day, calculus class, when my phone started buzzing from my pocket. I pulled it out and an unknown number was calling me. Seeing as I was in class and I didn't know who was calling me, I shoved my phone back in my pocket and continued listening to my teacher.

After my first class, I had a ten minute break before the next class. I decided to check my phone. It had a voicemail on it. I opened my phone and played the voicemail, "Frank…It's your brother... I...I need help. I'm in the basement of school, I think… Don't… don't trust… the Joe you see at home…He's.. he's an imposter. Please, you got to help me…".

The voicemail ended, leaving me with questions and concerns. The person on the phone sounded like Joe, but how could it be? I had just seen my brother ten seconds ago in the hallway. This voicemail had really confirmed all of my suspicions. Walking to my next class, I was lost in thought about Joe.

"Frank? You okay?" Chet asked me, we had second period together, "You look as pale as a ghost".

"I'm okay. I'll tell you later. Hang out at lunch?"

"Sure" Chet kept looking at me with a worried expression. How was I supposed to tell him what I had just heard…

JOE

Frank hadn't answered the call, I left a short voicemail. I had really hoped he would have answered. My eyes closed in defeat.

"What the hell are you doing?" Maurice's voice yelled. I opened my eyes and he was glaring at the phone, "did you use this?" I didn't answer.

"Did you call someone!?" He screamed at me. I still didn't reply but I quickly filled with fear, "who did you call!"

"No one" I whispered quietly.

"Liar!" He was getting angrier and angrier by the second. I should have hid the phone, stupid me.

"I didn't… call anyone" I breathed out.

"You're such a liar!" Maurice screamed at me. He reached down, hand reaching around my neck. The maniac lifted me up by my neck and smashed my head against a nearby wall. Stars clouded my vision as I fell to the ground. I could feel darkness coming but fought to stay awake. I heard a ripping sound and felt hard pressure on my legs. Maurice was duct taping my legs together. My broken leg throbbed in protest. Next, he pulled my handcuffed arms and duct taped them together. I looked at him questioning what he was doing. Maurice took another piece of tape and shoved it on my mouth.

"You're not going anywhere Joey" he slammed my head on the floor and I felt no more…


	9. Chapter 9

_**Chapter 9 is up! Hope you enjoy. After this chapter, it gets a lot longer**_

FRANK

At lunch, I met up with all my friends in the cafeteria. My brother and Van were nowhere to be seen, which was okay with me. I wanted to share the voicemail I had saved on my phone.

"Frank, babe, are you doing okay?" Callie asked me, putting her hand on my arm.

"No, not really. I need to play you guys something." I pulled out my phone and played the voicemail for them. I kept it on a low volume so no one would over hear it. After it had finished, my friends all looked at me in horror.

"When did you get this Frank?" Tony asked me.

"This morning in calculus. I, I didn't answer it because I was in class".

"Is this real? Or is someone playing with you?" Biff asked.

"I have no idea." I said softly. My mind was spinning.

"Maybe that was really Joe on the phone. It would fit into all the weird ways Joe has been acting, if it wasn't really your brother" Chet spoke up.

"We could go look in the school basement. If Joe isn't there, then the call was just a prank" Tony suggested.

"Okay, how do we keep Joe occupied while we do this? If Joe is an imposter, he probably set this whole thing up" Callie asked.

"We ask Van" Biff said. We all gave him questioning looks, "They go out for a supper date, a couple of hours. That's plenty of time to see what's in the basement".

"I don't want her to get hurt" Callie argued.

"Tony and I will tail them and won't let Van of our sights" Phil finally spoke up.

"I'm coming too" Callie declared

"Okay, then that's the plan. We meet at my house at five to go to school, giving us two or three hours to look around at school" Biff exclaimed.

"Us?" I asked him.

"I'm not letting you go in alone. Joes my best friend. He's apart of our friend family and we will all help" they all nodded in agreement. I didn't know what to say as tears filled my eyes.

"Thanks you guys" I whispered.

"There's no needed to thank us, Frank" Tony said.

"I just texted Van, she's in" Callie looked at me.

"Ding ding" the bell rang to signal that lunch was over.

"See you guys at Biff's later" Chet got up to go to class. Everyone followed suite.

"I love you" I kissed Callie.

"I love you too" Callie replied back…

JOE

The sound of yelling and arguing awoke me from my sleep. I slowly opened my eyes to see what the noise was but I was seeing double. I definitely have a concussion now, I thought to myself, seeing as I had a very bad headache and a clouded vision. I closed my eyes to try to ease the pain, and listened in on the conversation.

"Why did you duct tape Joe?" I could hear my evil twin yelling.

"Uhh, no reason" Maurice wouldn't give him a straight answer.

"What happened!"

"He, he took my phone and called someone" Maurice admitted.

"What! Are you kidding me!?" Tom yelled.

"My phone fell out of my pocket, I'm, I'm sorry"

"Who did he call?!"

"I, I'm not sure, Joe didn't say"

"Unbelievable! Absolutely unacceptable Maurice! I thought you were smarter than this!" Tom was getting angry.

"I'm sorry, it won't happen again"

"No, I know it won't"

"What does that mean?" Tom didn't answer right away. Then, all I heard was a single gunshot continued by a body slam on the floor.

"You have to do what you have to do" My evil twin muttered to himself. Did he just kill Maurice? My heart started to beat very fast as panic set in.

"See that dear brother" Tom knelt down besides me, I could hear him breathing. I slowly opened my eyes to meet his angry gaze.

"I just killed him and it's all your fault" I stared at Tom, "I'll deal with you later. I have a date with Vanessa in a half hour. I'll be back in a couple of hours, then I might have to move you"...

 _Cliff Hanger again! Please R &R :)_


	10. Chapter 10

_**It's been awhile, hopefully you will enjoy!**_

 **FRANK**

 **After school, I hung out with Joe until it was time for his date. The more time I spent with, the more things I noticed that were strange. This Joe in my house wasn't my brother. Now, I just had to figure out where my real brother was.**

 **Around five thirty, the gang met up at Biff's house. We all had our different jobs for tonight. I was going to school with Chet and Biff. The key that had given me was in my pocket.**

 **"** **Okay, call us if you find anything" Phil said from the doorstep. Callie, Tony and him were about to leave to start tracking Vanessa.**

 **"** **Will do, the same for you guys" Chet exclaimed. We all had our jackets on, about to head back to Bayport High. Biff was driving us to school.**

 **Ten minutes later, the three of us arrived at school. There was one car in the parking lot.**

 **"** **So, do we have a plan?" Biff asked, walking to the front doors of the school.**

 **"** **Should we split up or stick together?" Chet replied with a question.**

 **"** **Isn't the basement usually on the bottom floor though, no sense going on the second or third floor if we're going to find the basement" Biff stated. It's true, none of us had ever ventured to the school's basement before.**

 **"** **I think we should stick together for now" I said to my friends. They both looked at me and nodded. Walking into the school was a little creepy because we were the only ones in the school. We began our walk around the first floor, trying to find to entrance to the basement. Since I had the school keys, we got to unlock every door just to double check. Almost nearing defeat, I unlock a door that lead to a case of stairs.**

 **"** **The basement?" Biff asked. Chet and I shrugged our shoulders.**

 **"** **It seems like it" Chet replied.**

 **"** **Let's check it out" I piped up, starting to walk down the staircase. My friends followed close behind. It was dark at the bottom of the stairs. The sole light was coming from a tiny window. We all turned our phone flashlight on. There was a body lying a few feet away from us. I walked closer to the motionless body, praying that this wasn't my brother.**

 **"** **Oh thank god" I muttered, "This isn't Joe". I was now an arm reach away, "This is, was... Maurice O'Connor, it looks like he was shot in the head". My friends stared at me in disbelief.**

 **"** **Who?" Chet asked softly.**

 **"** **Dad was telling me about him. He escaped from prison three months ago. Dad put him there."**

 **"** **Wow" They both exclaimed. While they were still gasping at the dead body, I moved my flashlight around the dark room. There were a bunch of random tools lying around. I stopped when my light hit a figure lying on the floor. Not a figure, a body! Quickly moving closer, I saw that this body was solely wearing boxers, tied up with duct tape and also gagged.**

 **"** **Joe?" I breathed out slowly…**


	11. Chapter 11

**Happy October! Thanks to everyone who reviewed! It really means a lot that people are reading this story. I'm almost finished writing this story but I've been busy with school, midterm time (yay). Next update will be Sunday (my birthday woo!)**

 _Tom Chapter 11_

JOE

I could hear people talking but couldn't pinpoint what they were saying. My head was still pounding with every breath I took. There was more than one voice talking, but they didn't seem to be bickering. Wasn't Maurice dead? Then who could Tom be talking to? Couldn't he just leave me alone? Questions fluttered around in my head. I was reaching my limit. I know I promised not to give up, but I was slowly losing faith on ever being found.

"Joe?" Someone whispered to the right of me. I attempted to open my eyes to see who had spoken, there were several lights in the room now.

"Joe!" The voice sounded panicked, "Please open your eyes for me".

"Oh my god Joe" Another voice was heard as I finally opened my eyes. They widen as I realized who was talking. It was my brother who I saw first. How did I ever give up on him, I knew he would find me. My eyes began to water at the thought that I almost gave up.

"Hey, you're okay, you're okay" Frank whispered to me, looking me in the eyes, "Here, I'll take off the tape" He gently pulled off the duct tape covering my mouth.

"Fr..Frank?" I mumbled to my brother, staring in disbelief.

"It's me Joe. What did they do to you little brother?" He sounded angry.

"I'll untie Joe. Chet, you call for an ambulance" Biff's voice called out.

"Bi..Biff? Chet?" I muttered, trying to move my head to see them.

"Yea, we're both here. Don't try to move Joe." Chet answered, smiling lightly. I couldn't believe my eyes. My friends and brother were right in front of me. Biff started to remove the tape from my legs, while Frank untied my arms. I gasped in pain as they began to remove them.

"Joe?" Frank asked, very concerned, "What's wrong?"

"Everything… hurts" I slurred out, my head was throbbing so hard. I closed my eyes so my world would stop spinning.

"No, stay awake Joe. Keep your eyes open" Frank cried.

"Everything's… spinning" I whispered, eyes still closed.

"I think he has a concussion" I heard Frank say to Biff.

"And a broken leg by the looks of it" Biff replied.

"Hey Joey, let me see those bright blue eyes of yours" Frank whispered. I slowly opened my eyes again to see Frank's panicked expression, "Keep them open".

"I'll try" I mumbled. Stars were slowly clouding my vision.

"The ambulance is on its way" Chet's voice called out.

"How much time?" Frank whispered.

"Five minutes, maybe six. How are you doing Joe?" My friend asked me, his face coming into view.

"S'okay" I muttered, my eyes kept flickering close.

"Come on Joe, please stay awake for me" I could hear Frank's voice pleading with me. I didn't think I could keep them open any longer. Bigger stars were coming and my head was pounding. I could still hear them begging me to stay awake when I welcomed the darkness…


	12. Chapter 12

_**Here's chapter 12!**_

FRANK

Joe closed his eyes and panic began to set in.

"Frank, he's going to be alright" Biff patted my shoulder. He must have seen the panic in my eyes.

"What if he's not?" I whispered.

"Don't think like that. We were just talking to him and an ambulance is on its way. He will be okay".

"Thanks Biff" I mumbled, wiping my eyes.

"It's okay. I'm going to call Phil and the gang. Let them know what's up. I think Chet is waiting for the ambulance. Are you okay to stay here?"

"Yes, you go" Biff ran up the stairs, pulling his phone out. For the first time, I was left alone with my brother. I moved myself closer to him and softly held his hand. His hand was cold as ice. I quickly took off the sweater I was wearing and put it on Joe, as a blanket.

"I'm so sorry Joe" I muttered to myself, "How did I not realize that Joe wasn't you? I'm supposed to be your older brother, your best friend, yet I failed terribly. Sure, I had my suspicions but I didn't act on them. I'm the worst brother ever". A few tears fell from my eyes and I quickly wiped them from my face.

"You can't blame yourself for this, Frank" Biff's voice called out from the stairs, "You didn't do this". I nodded slowly, not able to talk, "I called Phil and told him that we found Joe. The date is going fine. They were calling the police when I hung up. The imposter is going to get caught and put in jail".

"I hope so" I whispered.

"He's just down here" Chet called from the top of the stairs, he was leading two paramedics. I moved away from my brother to give them space, never taking my eyes off of Joe…

One hour later, I was sitting in the waiting room of the hospital with Biff and Chet. My parents had arrived and were filling out paperwork. My brother was being looked at by doctors and I hadn't heard any news.

"Hey guys!" Biff got out of his chair to welcome the newcomers. I turned my head to see Callie, Tony, Phil and Vanessa all with solem expressions.

"What happened?" Chet asked, with regards to their faces.

"He, the imposter... he got away" Tony whispered, looking down at the floor.

"What!" Chet yelled, "How did that happen?"

"I don't really know, it's like he knew we had called the cops. Right before we had told Vanessa what was going on, the imposter went to the washroom and slipped out the backdoor. The police and us looked everywhere, but couldn't find him. They are still looking but told us to come check in. That's why we were so long coming" Phil explained.

"He's, he's still out there?" I asked softly. "I'm sorry Frank but the police won't give up looking for him" Callie piped in.

"He's not getting found unless he wants to, he's too smart" I said with a blank expression, "He has given up for now, but he will probably be back".

"Do we know who this imposter is?" Tony asked.

"No, no idea" I replied, "I'd ask Joe but the doctors are checking him out"

"How's he doing?" Van asked hopefully.

"I really don't know, they haven't told us anything" We all sat down in silence, lost in thought. The imposter had hurt my little brother and gotten away.

"Family of Joe Hardy" A pretty blonde haired doctor had come in the waiting room.

"That's us" My dad spoke up, him and mom looked up at the doctor.

"How is Joe? Can we see him?" My mom questioned as the doctor walked over to our group.

"You can see him very soon. There are just a few things I need to go over with you. Joe has a couple of injuries that I will list out for you. He has a broken leg that has been put in a cast, several broken and bruised ribs that have been tapped and his wrists have been wrapped. Joe is dehydrated and malnourished. Any questions so far?" We shook our heads. "Joe is still unconscious due to a concussion he obtained. We have taken an MRI of his head, nothing alarming showed up on it, although he may be asleep for awhile. We will know more about his condition when he wakes up. Joe will be out in room 306, just give us ten minutes until you go visit him.

"Thank you doctor" My dad said, the doctor headed back.

"We should head home, it's getting late" Chet piped up.

"That's probably a good idea, it's a school night after all" My mom exclaimed.

"I'm not going to school tomorrow, i'm coming back tomorrow morning to see Joe" Biff explained, everyone else was doing the same thing.

"Thanks you guys, for everything" I gave all my friends a hug and they left together. It was just me, Van and my parents. My parents were going to visit my brother first, then it would be mine and Vanessa's turn.

"I couldn't leave just yet, I need to see Joe" She said to me. I knew exactly how she felt, "I, I kissed that imposter more than once Frank. How did I not notice it wasn't Joe? I, .."Vanessa broke off and sobbed. I put my arm around her and she continued to sob in my shoulder.

"Van, don't blame yourself. It's not your fault" I whispered to her.

"You guys can go see him now" My mom said softly to us, "I think me and your father are going to run home soon, get a shower and then come back."

"You guys go home and come back tomorrow morning , I want to stay with Joe" I begged.

"Fine, that's' fine" My dad didn't even try to argue with me, "We will take Vanessa home first"...


	13. Chapter 13

_**Hello everyone, thanks to everyone who read or reviewed any chapters. Here is Chapter 13! Enjoy :)**_

 **JOE**

I came back to reality very quickly. I was no longer laying on the cold floor, instead a soft bed. My eyes opened slowly to see darkness around me, I blinked a couple of times to try to see better. It looked like I was in a hospital room. Memories came flowing back to me as I remembered timbits of the past days events; the imposter Tom, Maurice being killed and Frank, Biff and Chet finding me. I moaned slowly as my head pounded with the details.

"Joe?" A voice asked me cautiously. I heard shuffling to my right. Frank's blurry face came into view. **"Fr..Frank?" I** whispered out to him.

"You're awake? The doctor said you wouldn't be awake for some time. How are you feeling?" Frank's face was filled with concern.

"Can you stop yelling?" I asked softly, eyes flickering.

"Sure, sorry" My brother said a lot softer, "How do you feel? He asked again.

"My head is pounding and I can't see very clearly" I breathed out.

"That's too be expected, you have a pretty bad concussion" I looked at Frank, he had tears in his eyes.

"You okay?" I asked him.

"I'm fine" He answered quickly, rubbing his eyes.

"You don't seem fine" I questioned Frank, he looked away.

"Joe… This is all my fault…" My brother whispered to the ground.

"Wait, what? How was this any of your

"If… if I would have noticed early, if I would have acted on my suspicions, then you wouldn't be hurt in the hospital."

"Don't blame yourself, not even for a second" I grabbed Frank's hand and held it closely, "This guy was good, he wasn't playing around".

"It's hard not to blame myself… Who was this imposter Joe? Why did he look so much like you?" I was afraid of these questions. As soon as my family knew the answers, everything would be different. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"I...I don't want to talk about it" I whispered quietly.

"You know who he is, don't you?" Frank asked quietly. I nodded slowly, "I.. I didn't want to tell you this now, but that guy is still out there Joe. He could come back to finish what he started." I inhaled quickly at this information and moaned in pain. My ribs throbbed at the sudden impact.

"Hey, easy." Frank's voice was filled with concern, "Maybe you should rest, take a nap. I'll be here when you wake up. There are police outside the doors, you're safe. He's not going to hurt you." I nodded, "I love you baby brother and I'm so glad that you're okay." Tears appeared in my eyes as I thought of what Tom had told me. Frank wasn't really my brother, we weren't related. I couldn't bare to tell him this because I knew things between us would be forever changed. "Joe, you're okay. I'm right here" Frank stroked my head softly as the tears continued to fall…


	14. Chapter 14

FRANK

Joe fell back asleep quickly, thanks to the physical and the mental exhaustion probably. The conversation I had with him had shaken me up a little. Clearly, there was information that Joe was withholding from me. Seeing as it was the middle of the night, I tried to fall back asleep.

 _I started to walk down the staircase. My friends followed close behind. It was dark at the bottom of the stairs. The sole light was coming from a tiny window. We all turned our phone flashlight on. There was a body lying a few feet away from us. I walked closer to the motionless body, praying that this wasn't my brother. My heart began to beat rapidly as I stared at the body. There was a bullet hole in the head, blood all over the ground. Tears fell down my face when I realized I was looking down at my dead younger brother…_

"Ahhh" I bolted up and looked around. My brother was sleeping peacefully in the hospital bed, "It was just a nightmare Frank" I told myself, trying to calm down. I looked at my watch, it read 7:30am. My parents would be arriving soon. My dad would probably want to know what had happened, since last night was so chaotic. I got out of my chair and began to pace around Joe's hospital room.

Forty five minutes later, my parents were here. They went in to visit my brother as I ran home to have a shower. When I got back, Dad took me outside while Mom sat in Joe's room with him.

"Frank, how are you doing?" My dad asked as we sat down on a bench.

"I'm okay dad" I replied quickly.

"Are you sure son? Because you seemed flustered this morning. Your brother is going to be okay."

"I, I don't know Dad. I blame myself for what happened to Joe. You guys were away and I should have done something sooner. I kept noticing how different Joe was acting but I, I never really asked why".

"How were you supposed to figure that out? You didn't know he had a lookalike. Do not blame yourself." I nodded, "Can you tell me what happened these past couple days?".

"Sure" I responded and began my story of investigating the high school and splitting up with Joe.

"Con said there was a body in the basement" My dad stated, when I was finished.

"Yes, that was Maurice O'Connor. I recognized him from the pictures you showed me. He, he was shot in the head Dad."

"Con told me this morning. What a way to go."

"It had to be Joe's lookalike that killed him. I wonder why."

"I think it's time we talk to Joe about what happened to him".

"Dad, I don't know if he's ready for that".

"We need to know what happened. We need to be there for him."

"I tried to ask Joe about it, but he wouldn't open to me" I said sadly.

"He will, with time. There's, there's also something that your mother and I need to talk to you about" My dad's eyes moved to the ground.

"What is it?"

"We should have told both of you years ago. Let's go back to Joe's room and have a family talk." Dad got up quickly and I followed suite. Joe and Mom were laughing at a joke Joe had said when we walked in the hospital room.

"How are you feeling Joe?" My dad asked my brother.

"I'm okay dad. My head is still pounding and my leg is pretty sore." Joe answered softly.

"I know this will be hard to talk about but can you tell us what happened?" Joe moved his eyes and stared at the ground.

"We will be right here with you the whole time." I said to him, pulling up a chair close to his bed, grabbing his hand and holding it softly.

"If I tell you, everything is going to change" Joe whispered, eyes still on the floor.

"What's going to change Joe?" My mom asked.

"Everything… this family… my life… everything."...


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15 is here! Only 2 more chapters left in this story**

I didn't want to tell my family what had happened with Tom and Maurice. I knew if I began my story, the tears would start flowing and never stop. But I couldn't keep this inside anymore. My parents had to know what I knew. I took a deep breath.

"I know I'm adopted" I said with a blank expression. Frank's jaw fell open and my parents looked at each other nervously.

"That can't be right. You.. you" Frank's words failed him.

"Joe's right." My dad looked at both of us, "Joe was adopted when he was just a baby."

"You never told us this! How could you keep something like this from us? From Joe?" My brother questioned my parents. I was wondering the exact same thing.

"We never found the right time. Your father and I always found something else to talk about. But why does it matter that you are adopted Joe? We raised you as our own. You are our son, 100%. You are so loved." My mom eyes filled with tears.

"Why couldn't you just tell me though? Instead of learning about it from Tom?" I asked quietly.

"I don't honestly know Joe. I'm so sorry."

"Tom?" Frank questioned.

"Tom is my twin brother. He's the lookalike that pretended to be me. He's, he's crazy."

"You have a twin?" My dad asked, confused.

"That's what he told me".

"We never knew anything about a twin. After we had you Frank, we wanted another baby. For you to have a little brother or sister. But your mother was in a terrible car accident a few months after you were born. She was no longer able to have kids. We were devastated. That's when we met Ann, Joe's biological mother. She was a couple of months pregnant and her fiancé had just passed away overseas. She knew she couldn't raise her baby on her own, especially with a broken heart. We wanted a baby so we adopted hers. I never knew there was a second child."

"He, he said he was sick as a baby. That's why no one adopted him. He blamed me for everything. Said it wasn't fair that I got a family and he got nothing."

"Joe, you were a baby. It wasn't your fault."

"I, I know that. I just feel sorry for him."

"It's a sad thing to happen, that is for sure."

"He.. Tom… he killed Ann. He killed her whole family."

"What?" Dad wondered, eyes looking shocked.

"Tom said that he found our birth mother, she had two children and a husband. He was so angry with her. Three months ago, he broke in their house and made Ann watch as he killed her family. Then, he, he killed her." There were tears in my eyes when I told my family this information, "He wanted to get justice. Tom joined forces with Maurice O'Connor and started watching me. Tom took me by surprise at school, kept me locked up in the school's basement. Maurice, he, he did all of the beating. He broke my leg. Tom, Tom just talked and talked. Told me his plans and how he loved having an older brother. I really thought I was going to die in that basement. I, I was about to give up on hope. I knew there was no way to figure out what was going on. I'm sorry I gave up on you." I couldn't keep talking as the water works began. Frank pulled me in for a hug and my parents joined in.

"He will get what he deserves. He will be locked in prison for the rest of his life or worse." Frank whispered, "I'm so sorry Joe".

"We will not give up until that bast*** is found" I gave my dad a look of surprise, he never swears much.

"I love you Joe. Please don't forget it" Mom had teary eyes, my whole family did.

"I love you guys too"...

Please read and review :)


	16. Chapter 16

**Last chapter is up (finally). Sorry for people who are following (if they are any of you). I wasn't sure if I wanted to post the finale but thought might as well... Thanks to all who shared an interest in my first fanfiction!**

FRANK

After the talk with Joe, I was feeling numb. I left Joe's hospital room to get some air. My parents stayed to keep Joe company, but I needed to get out of there. My mind was spinning with this new information. How had our parents gone so many years without telling Joe and I such an important detail. It just didn't seem right. After I had a few minutes to calm down, I headed back to Joe's hospital room. My parents were in deep conversation and it looked like Joe had fallen asleep.

"Frank? Are you okay?" My mom whispered to me with a nervous expression.

"I'm fine Mom." I hissed back, "I'll stay with him. You guys can come back later."

"Frank, I don't.." My dad started to say.

"He's been through so much in the past couple days. Joe needs time to let this all sink in. Maybe it wouldn't be the best thing for him to wake up to you." There, I had said it.

"Is that what you think?" My dad questioned.

"I don't know Dad, my head is just spinning."

"Come on Fenton. Let's go have lunch, Frank hunny, we will bring you something back." My mom looked at me with sad eyes.

"That'd be lovely Mom." I gave them both a hug and they left the room together.

"Brrrinngg, brrring" My phone was ringing. It was Vanessa calling me. I quietly slipped out of the room to answer.

"Hey Frank. How's Joe doing?"

"He's doing okay" I replied, pushing my hair out of my face.

"Can we come see him?"

"Maybe in a little bit, he's sleeping right now."

"How's he really doing? Don't lie to me."

"Joe's fine, a little banged up, but he'll get through it."

"Of course he will, text me when he's ready for visitors?"

"Yes, I'll keep you updated as well. Any word on Tom? I asked.

"Tom? Who's Tom?"

"That's Joe's imposter, his name is Tom."

"No, I'm sorry Frank". We said our goodbyes and hung up.

"Are you talking about me Franklin?" A voice came from Joe's room. I spun around to be face to face with Joe. Only it wasn't Joe, Joe was laying in his hospital bed.

"Aren't you happy to see me?" The lookalike demanded, he waved a gun in the air, "Get inside Joe's room now."

My heart was pounding as I quickly went into Joe's room. He looked at me with big scared eyes. I inched my way over to him.

"Frank… what is he doing here?" Joe whispered to me.

"Joe, would you just shut up!" Tom yelled at my brother, swinging his gun in our direction, "To answer your question, I shot both of the officers watching Joe's room when Frank was on the phone. Their bodies are in the closet. You didn't hear the gunshot because I have a silencer, which is an awesome gun. Now, Frank, move over there!" He pointed to the wall opposite of Joe's bed.

"Tom, please. Just leave us alone. It's not my brother.." I was cut off with a look from Tom.

"Now, now Frankie. Let me do the talking." I nodded in response, glancing over at Joe who was breathing very heavily, "I'm going to take Joe with me, I'm not finished with him yet."

"No! You can't!" I cried, "Tom, come on. Joe's in no position to leave the hospital. He has a broken leg!"

"Frank, you don't know when to stop talking, do you?" He stared me down with a scary look in his eyes. In a single movement, the gun pointed right at me and I fell to the ground in terrible pain. I moved my head to the right and there was blood gushing out of my shoulder.

"Frank!" Joe yelled, trying to get to me.

"You.. you shot me!" I spoke, voice just barely a whisper.

"I can't have you following us." Tom moved closer to Joe, pulling out a syringe that was filled with liquid.

"Please.. Don't" Joe begged with his evil twin. Tom just smiled and plunged the needle in Joe's arm. Within seconds, my brother was unconscious. I tried to get up to fight Tom but my legs were not cooperating.

"Let's talk about this, it doesn't need to go down like this" I tried to reason with this psycho, my breathes coming in short gasps, either from the pain of the gunshot or seeing Joe laying unconscious. Tom didn't say anything as he walked towards me, filling up the same syringe he used on Joe.

"Now, I was just going to leave you but damn, you are so annoying" He stabbed the needle in my left arm and smiled. Instantly, the drugs kicked in and I felt myself fading. The last thing I saw before I passed out was Tom wheeling my little brother out of the room…

FENTON

Laura and I went down to the cafeteria, both lost in our own thoughts. Why did we wait so long to tell Joe about him being adoption… It wasn't like we were hiding it or anything.

"Fenton, what are we going to do?" Laura asked quietly.

"I don't know Laura, I don't know…" We sat in silence for a few minutes, lost in thought, not one of us touching our food.

"I'm going to go back up and talk to the boys. I have to say something" Laura spoke up.

"I'll come up with you too" We got up and threw our uneaten food in the garbage. Taking the elevator up to Joe's floor, we didn't speak a word to each other. I kept glancing over to my wife, but she wouldn't look me in the eyes. The elevator doors opened with a ding. We walked in silence to the room Joe was staying in. The door was closed. I pushed it open and gasped in shock. Frank was laying against a wall across the room, blood coming from his shoulder. His eyes were closed. I looked quickly to the hospital bed, Joe wasn't in it. My eyes searched the room for my younger son, but I didn't see him.

"Frank!" Laura cried from the entrance of the room.

"Laura, go get a nurse!" I yelled to her, running to Frank and putting some pressure on his wound.

"Frank, Frank" I said softly to my son, willing him to wake up. His eyes remained closed. My heart started beating fast, as questions filled my head. What had happened in here and where was Joe!?...

 **Guess there has to be a sequel...**

 **Stay tuned!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hello all. It's been awhile. Happy October. I've had bad writers block but wanted to finish the story! It's a work in process, it's slow going but it's going to happen! I figured to keep going on with this story. Not sure how long it will be but more chapters to come!**

JOE

I felt poking on my face.

"Wakey, wakey" a voice called out, the poking continued, "Joe!" The same voice cried my name. I struggled to open my eyes and get the poking to stop. My eyelids felt like they were glued together. Finally, I got my eyes to open and my stomach dropped. My twin was staring at me in the face.

"How are you feeling Joe?" Tom asked gently, coming closer to me. I was surprised by his tone. Where was I? I looked around and I was in a small room, with a nightstand, a little dresser and a bed. I was laying on the bed. I looked down to find my wrist bound to each side of the bed. My non broken leg was also bound.

"Tom" I croaked, my throat was very dry, "Where am I?" I asked slowly, not daring to look him in the eyes quite yet.

"You're in your bedroom, Joe. We're at our house."

"What..? This isn't my.. my bedroom" I gasped.

"Here, have some water" Tom brought a glass of water with a straw to my mouth and I took a long drink.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked him, after he put the glass back on the nightstand.

"What do you mean? I'm your brother and I'm taking care of you in our home. You've been sick" Tom patted my head softly. It sent chills down my back but I couldn't move.

"Let me go, Tom." I said with a clear voice, trying to hold in all the emotions I was feeling.

"Let you go where? We belong together, you and I. We're blood. We're twins and we're meant to be together." Tom was still touching my head, now stroking it. I tried to move my head away, but any head movement gave me a whiff of pain. I still had a concussion after all. Tom was terrifying me with this talk of family. He was acting like I wasn't being held here against my will or he hadn't been torturing me days previously.

"We may be twins, but we will never be brothers" I spat out, hatred in my voice. Tom bent down to my level and was an inch away from my face.

"I wouldn't talk that way, if I were you." Tom said with a voice that gave me another chill, he grabbed my chin tightly, "You're mine, Joe" My twin looked me in the eyes and slapped my face, hard. He got up and went to the door, "I'll be back in a little bit, let you think about your words." Tom opened the door to my prison and went out, locking it behind him. As if I would be able to escape in my position.

I was scared, maybe more scared than I had ever been in my life. I had no idea what Tom's plan was but I knew that it wouldn't end well for me.

 **Let me know what you think :)**


	18. Chapter 18

**Here is an update on Frank. I think I will be going back and forth from the brothers for a while.**

FRANK

"Frank" "Frank, honey. Wake up" Voices were calling at me and all I wanted to do was sleep. My body ached. Where was I? Memories came flooding back to me. Getting mad at my parents, Tom appearing, getting shot and drugged, Joe! I opened my eyes quickly.

"Joe! Where's Joe?" I whispered, my eyes finding my mom and dad sitting nearby. I was in a hospital bed.

"We're hoping you can answer that" My dad looked defeated and exhausted.

"He's.. he's not here?" I asked quietly, my heart filled with dread.

"No, honey. He's missing. When we came back up from the cateria, he was gone and you.. You were.." My mom started to cry.

"Mom, I'm okay" I said softly. My shoulder was throbbing painfully but I was alright.

"What happened Frank?" My dad spoke up, coming close to hold my uninjured arm.

"Tom, it was Tom.." I whispered, "Vanessa had called me when you went down to the cafeteria. Joe, he was asleep, so I stepped right outside his door. I, I didn't want to wake him up." The tears had already began to fall. "While I was talking to Van, he.. He shot the guards watching Joe's room and waited for me to end the call. He ushered me into Joe's room. Joe was awake and he looked so scared. I tried to go to him but Tom, he had a gun and told me to go across the room… He, he was so agitated, kept yelling at Joe to shut up. I tried to reason with him, but he shot me in the shoulder instead…" By this time, we were all crying. I took a couple of deep breaths and tried to calm down a little. "After that, Tom pulled out a syringe. It was some sort of knock out drug. He..he knocked Joe out first. I.. I couldn't do anything to..to stop it… Then he got me. The last thing I…I remember seeing was Tom rolling Joe out of the room."

"I'm so sorry. We should have stayed here with you" My father spoke first.

"I should have stayed in the room and not went outside to talk to Van. I should have been watching Joe.." I started to sob, I couldn't hold it in.

"Frank, this isn't your fault. It's that maniac Tom's fault. He is to blame." My mom patted my back softly, "We will get him back, we always do." I couldn't look my parents in the eyes, "Frank, sweetie. Look at me." My eyes slowly went to my moms, "This isn't your fault, you understand that right?" I nodded slowly, words failing me.

After a couple of minutes, I had stopped crying and tried to compose myself a little. "How long has he had Joe?" I asked.

"About 24 hours now." My dad looked at his watch,

"24 hours already! A whole day! We should be out looking for him, not sitting around in a hospital room."

"We didn't know the full story and we were worried about you. The police have been notified and are looking."

"When can I get out?"

"Frank, you just woke up from getting shot."

"Dad, I need to be out there looking for him or doing something."

"I know, son."


	19. Chapter 19

JOE

My mind wouldn't shut off. What was Tom's plan for me? Was he going to kill me? Keep me locked up in this room until I was 70? These questions were driving me crazy. I had to stop or I was going to lose my mind. My thoughts went to my family. I missed them already. How long had it been since I seen them? I had already lost track of the time here. I thought of the last conversation I had with my parents. Frank was so mad at them about keeping the huge secret. Me, I wasn't angry. I didn't know what I felt. And Frank, the last time I saw him, he was laying on the floor. Tom shot him, in the shoulder. Where was he now? Was he okay? I didn't even know that.

"Stop Joe." I was talking to myself now, "Stop or you're going to drive yourself crazy." Now, how was I going to get myself out of here. I started shivering with cold and frustration, I looked down and realized for the first time that I was solely wearing my boxers. I might freeze down here too, I'll add that to the list.

I heard a key unlocking my door and in walked Tom.

"Hello dear brother, I have some soup for you" He was holding a small bowl. Tom brought a chair near my bed and sat down, taking a spoon out of his sweater pocket. "Now do I need to feed you or are you going to be good?"

"I'll be good" I replied, realizing how hungry I really was. When was the last time I had eaten? I honestly couldn't remember.

"I'm going to undue one of your arm restraints. If you make any moves, you're going to regret it" Tom looked at me straight in the face.

"How can I do anything? I still have a broken leg" I said sarcastically.

"You managed to escape me once before" He put the bowl and spoon on the nightstand and undid my right arm restraint. I moved my hand around a couple of times. It felt good. "Here is the spoon and I will put the bowl on your lap."

"Okay" I nodded, taking the spoon.

"I didn't know what your favorite kind of soup was so I picked chicken noodle" Tom smiled. I didn't reply and began to eat the soup. I didn't know if he had poisoned it or not, but I was too hungry to care. It didn't last very long, it was a very small bowl. When I was done, Tom took the bowl back. "Since you have been good so far, I'm going to let you use the washroom. I'm going to have to help you" I was surprised, I did not see this coming.

"Th..thank you Tom" I said quietly. He smiled at me again then proceed to undue my other restraints. I lifted myself so I was in a sitting position, legs hanging off the bed. Tom took my hands and helped me into a standing position. I grunted in pain as I made my way over to the bathroom, leg, ribs and head throbbing in protest. The bathroom was only a few feet away from my bed but it felt like a journey. We made it to the door and Tom helped me to the sink.

"I'm going to give you five minutes in here. I'll be right outside." He proceed to leave the washroom and closed the door slightly, there was still a little opening. I turned the water on and splashed some on my face. Seeing myself in the mirror, I looked like a mess. My skin was very pale and I had bags under my eyes. Don't get me started on the state of my hair. I looked around the bathroom to see if there was anything I could potentially use for my escape. A toilet, sink and tub were the sole things on my short list.

"Alright, I'm coming back in" Tom called from the door. It only took a couple of seconds to get me back in bed.

"Tom, do you really have to restrain me? You saw how far I can go and that was with your help" I pleaded with my twin.

"Yes, I do." He said sharply, taking each of my arms and tying them to the bed.

"Wh..what's your plan Tom? What are you going to do to me?" I asked quietly.

"I've already told you that Joesph. I'm going to take care of you. I am your family" Tom looked into my eyes. Did he really believe this? That we were family and I was going to willing stay here.

"Please, let me go. Just drop me off somewheres. I won't tell anyone anything" I begged my crazy twin.

"When are you going to get it in your head, Joesph. You are not going anywheres" He raised his voice and stared at me with a scary look, "You need to stop talking about this. It's making me angry and you wouldn't like me when I'm angry." He slapped me hard in the face.

"I..I'm sorry" I mumbled, my face stinging.

"You need to learn to respect me. I just gave you a nice meal and let you go to the washroom and this is how you continue to act!" He was pacing the little room now, anger all over his face. What had I done?

"I..I'm sorry Tom. You're right, I need to be nicer to you." I tried to reason with my twin. I needed him to keep me alive after all.

"I guess you're forgiven, for now. I don't want any more questions like that though, okay?" Tom came close to me.

"Ye..yes, okay" I stuttered out.

"See, you're slowly learning your place" He smiled a giant smile, "I'll be back brother". My crazy twin left, leaving me alone with my thoughts.


	20. Chapter 20

**Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed! I hope everyone is enjoying the story!**

FRANK

The next morning, the doctor had cleared me to leave the hospital with strict instructions to take it easy for the next few days. I reluctantly agreed. My arm was in a sling so my shoulder wouldn't move around too much and I was given a small bottle of painkillers to help ease the pain.

"What's the next move Dad?" I asked my dad, when we had reached the car.

"You are going home to rest, Franklin. Doctors orders" He helped me into the passenger seat.

"But dad…"

"No buts about it. You need rest to heal your shoulder" My dad cut me off, "Frank, I know you want to help look for your brother and you can, from the house. I have some things you can look at. I can't be worried about you too." He looked at me with sad eyes.

"I understand" I said softly. The car ride home was left in silence. Both of us lost in thought with worries about Joe. We needed to find him now, we had already lost valuable time and who knew what Tom was doing to him. No, I couldn't think like that or I would go crazy.

"Frank, we will find your brother. You have to have faith" We had reached our house and parked the car.

"I believe you, Dad. I just… how are we going to find him? Last time, we got him back with his own help. I don't think we will be that lucky again" I replied sadly.

"Your brother is pretty resilient. I know he will find a way if he can or we will find a lead. Here, let's go inside and talk with your mother." With my dad's help, I got to the front door. He pushed it opened and revealed all of mine and Joe's friends.

"Frank, you're home!" Chet cried, coming in for a soft hug.

"Hey Chet, hey guys" I greeted the others who included Biff, Tony, Phil, and Callie.

"We were going to come visit you at the hospital but your mom said you convinced the doctor to let you come home this morning" Callie came to get a hug, "I'm glad you're okay." She gave me a quick kiss.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked after I sat down on the couch.

"We're here to help. With you, with your dad, in any way we can." Biff said softly, tears in his eyes. He quickly wiped them away.

"Your parents called me and told me everything" Callie squeezed my hand softly, "I called the gang and we agreed to meet at your house for when you got home."

"I don't know what to do." I whispered, "There's nothing to go on. No leads, nothing."

"We'll find something and Joe will be fine, you'll see" Tony piped in. I nodded.

"There's going to be loose end somewhere, we just need to find it." Phill added, "He couldn't have taken Joe very far. The whole state is on the lookout for him."

"You're right! He's probably still in Bayport" Tony agreed.

"Has anyone talked to Van? How's she doing?" I asked. The last time I had talked to her had been right before..

"We told her to come, but she couldn't. She's a mess. She blames herself Frank. Says that if she never would have called you, you would have seen him coming" Callie looked at me with tears in her eyes.

"What? That's crazy!" I exclaimed.

"We know, we tried to convince her otherwise but she wouldn't take it." Phil said sadly.

"It's not her fault! How could she have know, she wasn't even at the hospital." I wondered out loud.

"Sounds like someone else believes they're at fault when they're not" My mom came into the living room, giving me a look, "Frank also thinks this is his fault" She explained to the group.

"Frank!" There were several protests.

"I.. I know it's not. But I was right there, and I couldn't do anything to stop him from taking Joe" I whispered.

"He had a gun! What were you suppose to do?" Chet expressed his feelings, "It is not yours nor Vanessa's fault. It is that crazy lunatic's fault and no one else's!"

"You're right, you're all right. But why do I feel so miserable?" No one could answer.


	21. Chapter 21

**Thanks to everyone for the reviews! I really appreciate anyone who reads and/or reviews :)**

 **I haven't written the ending yet but I know how it's going to end!**

JOE

I needed to figure out where I was. That was step number one of planning my escape. I still didn't know how I was going to get out of here in my position. My leg was in a cast, my head was pounding at uneven intervals and my energy level was low, but those were just minor details.

"Hello little brother" Tom called from the door, holding a bowl.

"Little brother?" I asked him,confused.

"Yes. When I found out that I had a twin, I just assumed I was the older, more mature one of the two. And look, I'm taking care of my little brother." Tom grinned.

"O...okay" I whispered slowly, Tom was insane, absolutely insane. I was scared for my well being and I didn't know when he was going to tick.

"I brought you another bowl of soup" He sat down and gave me the bowl.

"Thanks Tom" I began to eat the soup.

"I don't want you to call me Tom anymore, I want you to call me big brother." Tom said. I gasped slowly and almost choked on my soup. I started coughing, "Here, have some water" He gave me a glass of water to drink. After a few gulps, I had stopped coughing.

"You want..t me to call you... big brother?" I asked softly.

"Well, of course" My crazy twin answered. I didn't know what to say and I had lost my appetite, "You should finish your bowl of soup".

"I..I'm not hungry" I said.

"Little brother, you need to eat. Should I feed you?"

"No, I can manage" I whispered, finishing the soup. My stomach wasn't feeling well and I didn't think it had to do with the soup.

"Are you okay, little brother?" Tom asked, playing with my hair.

"I'm fine" I muttered, taking deep breaths to calm myself down.

"You know you can talk to me right. I'm here to listen" Tom said reassuringly. He was playing mind games with me today, acting like my best friend. When in one false move, he would turn back into the crazy person he truly was.

"Can I ask you two questions, big brother?" I looked at my crazed twin.

"Perhaps, but remember…" He gave me a look.

"Okay.. First question, what day is it? You can at least tell me that" I asked. I watched Tom make a face like he was trying to decide if he should answer or not.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt any. It's Friday night" Friday night? Saturday morning was the day I was kidnapped the first time. It had been six days since Tom had come into my life! I tried to keep my breathing even, I hadn't realized so much time had passed.

"Okay, thanks. Second question is where are we? Are we still in Bayport?" I asked my second question. He contemplated this question for a longer time, shaking his head a couple of times.

"Why does this matter?" He said sharply.

"I.. I was just wondering where our home was, big brother."

"I mean, this information wouldn't do you much good" Tom stopped for a second, "Yes, we are still in Bayport, on the outskirts actually. Maurice and I found this abandoned house and tidied it up a little." I was trying to keep my face neutral but I was internally filled with hope. I was a five minute walk away from the Morton farm, I knew exactly where I was. We were in this creepy house on the hill that everyone stays away from because they think it's haunted. If I could find a way out, I could maybe manage to get myself to Chet's house.

"Any other questions?" Tom asked after a few minutes of silence.

"No, I don't think so. Thank you for answering, big brother" I gave him a little smile.

"See, see! I knew we would get along!" He looked very pleased with himself, "Maybe I should have just done this from the start and not have let Maurice have his way. I'm sorry about him, he hurt you." Tom grabbed my hands, and looked into my eyes, "I didn't mean for him to hurt you. I was just so angry."

"I..I understand" I was telling Tom what I thought he wanted to hear, but he still sent a chill down my spine every time he talked.

"Oh, you understand! This is amazing! We're going to have such a great time together baby brother. Maybe I can get us some board games, and oh, maybe we can watch movies!" Tom continued to ramble on, as I slowly began planning my escape.


	22. Chapter 22

**Thanks to all for reading and reviewing! Hope everyone has a good day :)**

FRANK

My mom had sent my friends home. It was getting late and apparently I needed my rest. I thanked my friends for coming but I really just wanted to be alone. They all promised to come back tomorrow morning to check in and see if there was anything they could do.

"Frank, I think you should go to bed soon." My mom said gently, patting me on the back. We were sitting in the kitchen, attempting to eat a late supper, but we didn't have an appetite.

"I know, I'm tired but I need to call Vanessa first." I wanted to tell her it wasn't her fault.

"That's a good idea, that poor girl." My dad agreed.

I went upstairs to my room and sat down on my bed. I pulled out my cell phone and hit Vanessa's contact.

"Hello" She answered the phone quietly.

"Hey Van"

"Frank, I'm.. I'm so sorry" I could hear her crying.

"Van, stop. This is not your fault. That's why I'm calling you."

"But, if I wouldn't have called you, then you would have stayed in the room and you would have seen Joe's imposter coming..." She started to sob.

"Vanessa, please." I took a minute to compose myself, "This is not your fault, okay? I know exactly how you feel, I've been blaming myself from the start. When we found Joe the first time, I blamed myself. How could I not have known that the person hanging around for three days wasn't my brother? Three whole days! But, my parents and Joe helped me see that this wasn't my fault. I had no way of knowing. It is the same with you, you were just calling to check in with your boyfriend, who you love. Please, don't blame yourself." Vanessa didn't answer right away. I could hear her blowing her nose.

"You're right Frank. If I think like this, I'm going to drive myself crazy and this isn't helping to find Joe… . Do you have any leads?"

"Not yet, no. My dad has been looking into things but so far, nothing."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"The gang is coming over tomorrow morning, you should come."  
"I'll be there" We said our goodbyes, and hung up the phone. I threw my phone across my bed and layed down. What was that crazy guy doing to my brother? I pictured the scene in the school basement again. Walking down those stairs to find my brother on the floor, duct taped head to foot, in his boxers and freezing cold. I thought he was dead at first, but thank god, he hung on. Somehow with his broken leg, Joe managed to find a phone and call me. I still don't know how he did it. Would he be that lucky again? I really hoped so. My brother was the bravest person I knew, and again, he was in the hands of his crazy twin. I was trying to blink back tears, but they continued to fall.


	23. Chapter 23

Here's chapter 23 :) one of my personal favourites, let me know what you think!

JOE

I could smell pancakes. My stomach growled in hunger.

"Hello little brother" Tom called from the door. He rolled in a kart, that had a stack of pancakes, syrup, a carton of juice and the utensils necessary on it, "I brought you breakfast!".

"It looks great T.. big brother" I smiled to my twin, almost calling him the wrong name.

"Let me undo your arm restraints and we will eat together. Afterwards, I have a couple of board games we can play!" Tom was in a really good mood and I didn't know if that was good or bad for me. He released my restraints and passed me a plate with one pancake already cut up, "Would you like syrup?"

"Yes please" I replied, silently wishing he would have been stupid enough to give me a knife. The kart was too far away for me to grab one. He handed me a plastic fork and we both dug in.

"There are really good" I complimented.

"Thanks little brother , I made them myself. Do you want another one?" I nodded in agreement. He cut up another pancake and placed it on my plate,"Apple or orange juice?"

"Apple, please." Tom poured me a small glass of juice and I drank it in one gulp. He watched me eat my pancake with a weird look on his face. After I had finished, my twin took the plate and cup away and pulled out a napkin.

"Let me wipe your face off." Tom said. I stared at him reluctantly for a moment. I don't think he even noticed because he continued to come closer and lightly wiped my face. I tried to hide my face of disgust but I really hated when he touched me at all, "What game do you want to play?" My twin asked, pulling out some boxes from the second shelf of the kart, "I have Sorry, Trouble or Monopoly. I may not have all the pieces for Monopoly though."

"I don't care. Why don't you choose big brother." I kept saying the name he wanted to hopefully keep him happy.

"Hmm, let's play Trouble!" He put the other boxes away and sat down on the bed. Tom had the game set up in a manner of moments, "What color do you want to be?".

"Can I be blue?" I asked.

"I wanted to be blue!" Tom slightly raised his voice.

"Th..that's fine. You be blue, I"l..I'll be yellow" I said reassuringly.

"Thanks little brother, you're so great" He smiled and pulled out our pieces needed, "I'm going to go first!" Like I would try to fight him on that. My crazy twin rolled the dice and got a three, "A three! That doesn't help me!" He was getting agitated.

"Why don't you roll again big brother? We won't count that first roll." I encouraged him. He rolled the dice again and got another three.

"Ahh!" Tom yelled, "Just go" He muttered under his breath. I looked at him and rolled the dice. I got a six. I gulped slowly. "You got a six! That's not fair!"

"I'll roll again, if you want"

"No, that's fine" He took his turn and rolled a four. I could see him get visibly more upset every second. It was my turn again and I rolled another six, "Little brother, are you cheating?" He asked in a loud angry voice.

"No..no, I'm not. How could I cheat?" I tried to reason with him.

"You keep getting the good rolls though" His eyes were going funny.

"We can stop playing" I spoke softly.

"No!" Tom rose from the bed, "No, no, no! This was not how it was supposed to go! I was supposed to win and you were supposed to tell me how good I was at this game and I was supposed to give you tips on how to be better!" He ranted, walking back and forth, pulling out his hair a little, "Why little brother? Why did you do this!" He came at me quickly and started squeezing my neck, "You couldn't have just let me win or even roll the numbers I wanted!" Tom yelled in my face, gripping my neck tighter. I couldn't breathe. I tried to get his hands off my neck but I was weak and he was surprisingly strong. Just when I thought I was going to pass out from the lack of oxygen, he let go. "I thought we were going to have fun together." I trying to take deep breaths to get some air back into my lungs.

"I...I'm s...sor...ry" I wheezed out. He shook his head slowly and came closer to me again. All of a sudden, Tom started punching me, in the face and in the stomach.

"You.. ruined… everything" Tom spat out. I had lost track of how many times he had punched me. He did one last hard punch to my face and stopped, just glaring at me for a second. Before I had time to react,

Tom roughly restrained both of my arms to the bed again. He made them very tight and they cut into my skin. My twin gave me one last look, "Little brother" He said sadly, grabbing the games and the kart and left.

I let out a big sigh of relief when my crazed twin exited the bedroom. There was blood running down my face. It felt like my nose was broken. My whole body was aching and I was seeing little stars. My breaths were coming in fast and unlabored, probably from the beating and the panic growing larger in my stomach. Tom was a loose cannon. I hadn't done or even said anything and he went off his rocker. Playing that game was a huge mistake. How much longer would I able to last? Time was quickly running. I closed my eyes, praying someone would figure out where I was or that I would find a way out. I was in trouble.


End file.
